JULY. 201 



Yellows, a very fine dwarf yellow for bedding ; King of Sardinia, the 

 best dark ; Orange Boven and Pilot were fine. Mr. Cole, of St. 

 Albans, also sent some pretty varieties of this class. 



Pansies were not good. Mr. Bragg was first ; Messrs. Dobson, 

 second. There were also two collections from Edinburgh, finely grown 

 flowers, but had become damaged from the length of tha journey. A 

 pretty fancy kind, exhibited by Mr. Stark, of Edinburgh, named 

 Mazeppa, we have seen years ago on the Continent, under the name of 

 Magpie. It may be compared to some of our fancy Dahlias in its style 

 of marking, being purple tipped with white. The white extends 

 down each of the five petals in a three-cornered or wedge shape. There 

 were some fine new varieties in Messrs. Downie & Laird's collection. 



Seedling Pelargoniums were exhibited in large numbers by the prin- 

 cipal growers, there being a large bank of them, some of which were 

 great improvements on existing varieties. The first prize for the best 

 scarlet kind was awarded to Mr. Turner for King of Scarlets. This 

 is a very bright free flowering variety. The second prize was also 

 awarded to the same exhibitor for Prince of Prussia, a bright flower, 

 with large rich blotch on the top petals. It is a large bold flower. 

 The judges selected the following for certificates : — Spotted Gem 

 (Turner), the finest of all the varieties, having distinct spots on the 

 bottom petals; Mr. Beck (Turner), another spotted kind; General 

 Williams (Turner), a rich dark flower of good shape ; Viola (Hoyle), 

 pale lavender lower petals, dark top — a distinct new variety. The 

 following were also good : Symmetry (Foster), a fine bright flower ; 

 Golden Fleece (Foster), very bright orange scarlet, exceedingly showy ; 

 Miss Foster (Turner), a dark flower with white centre, very free and 

 attractive, but not of the finest form ; Agnes (Hoyle), large rose with 

 white centre ; Standard (Hoyle), large Carlos-like flower, but of finer 

 form; Bianca (Hoyle), resembling, but finer than Virginia; Marvellous 

 (Hoyle), a free flowering dark variety with strongly veined bottom 

 petals, very showy ; Josephine (Hoyle), light purple ; Mr. Hoyle 

 (Turner), a showy spotted kind; and Conspicuum (Turner), a strongly 

 marked and beautifully spotted variety. These two latter had certifi- 

 cates awarded them at the first show. May 28. 



In Seedling Fancy Pelargoniums we noticed General Pelissier, 

 Emperor, Helen Faucit, Sir J. Paxton, Madame Rougiere, King of 

 the Fancies, and Jenny Ney ; all of which were more or less good, and 

 considerable improvements. The three first named received certificates. 



There were some interesting new bedding plants exhibited. Mr. 

 Turner sent a basket of the new variegated Geranium, Alma. This 

 has smoother foliage than most of the variegated kinds, with bright 

 scarlet flowers ; it is also of good habit, being free flowering. A certi- 

 ficate was awarded to it ; also to a new striped Petunia, Marquis de 

 St. Innocent, exhibited by Mr. Turner : this is striped like a Carnation. 

 There were also three seedlings marked in the style of Picturata, of 

 very good shape — Gem, Picotee, and Nonsuch. 



Mrs. Halford, a new white Verbena, was shown, very good, and is 

 certainly the best of its class. 



Mr. J. Salter, of Hammersmith, sent a collection of herbaceous 

 Pseonies, which were exceedingly gay. " 



